1634: The Bavarian Crisis

Assiti Shards #6

by Eric Flint, Virginia DeMarce

'The Thirty Years War' continues to ravage 17th century Europe, but a new force is gathering power and influence - the Confederated Principalities of Europe, an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians from the 20th century led by Mike Stearns who were hurled centuries into the past by a mysterious cosmic accident.

The CPE has the know-how of 20th century technology, but needs iron and steel to make the machines. The iron mines of the upper Palatinate were rendered inoperable by wartime damage, and American know-how is needed on the spot to pump them out and get the metal flowing again - a mission that will prove more complicated than anyone expects. In the maelstrom that is Europe, even a 20th century copy of the 'Encyclopedia Britannica' can precipitate a crisis, when readers learn of the 1640 Portuguese revolt, a crisis that will involve Naples as well. Another factor - Albanian exiles in Naples, inspired by the Americans, are plotting to recover lost Albanian turf, which will precipitate yet another crisis in the Balkans.

This troubled century was full of revolutions and plans for more revolutions before the Americans arrived, and gave every would-be revolutionary an example of a revolution that succeeded. Europe is a pot coming to a boil, and Mike Stearns will have his hands full seeing that it doesn't boil over on to Grantville and the CPE.

Genres: Alternate History, Science Fiction, Time Travel, Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Historical

704 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2007

About the author

Eric Flint was a New York Times bestselling American author, editor, and e-publisher. The majority of his main works were alternate history science fiction, but he also wrote humorous fantasy adventures.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit slow in the beginning, but the last half is excellent. 2018 re-read: This series almost always satisfies.

[Henry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the continuing saga in the 1632 Universe that was started (not surprisingly) with a book entitled 1632.

Now it is 1634 and there is a Crisis in Bavaria (hence, the current title).

If you aren't familiar with this series, it has a number of unusual characteristics. Quite notably, there are now about four books that take place in 1634. And there is a book that takes place in 1635. To keep fans on their toes, that book came out BEFORE the last two books that take place in 1634.

Confused?

The reason is that Eric Flint has delegated the writing of these latest books to other authors. Or perhaps he is collaborating with them. It is a little hard to tell.

Anyhow, the latest book is entertaining but is seriously flawed in that it requires a scorecard to keep all of the characters and political situations in the right order.

Quick history lesson for you: in the 17th Century, Germany was a crazy quilt of kingdoms, principalities, duchies,etc.

This book is about the political intrigue that is taking place among this crazy quilt of political entities.

The sheer mass of characters that are introduced in this book is staggering. Aside from the royalty, there are the servants, the soldiers, the diplomats, etc.

It doesn't help that many of the places have similar names. Nurnburg is not the same as Neuburg. (But they aren't too far away.) Amburg is different from Hamburg and Bamburg.

And just when you think that you are getting on top of things, the authors throw in an aside explaining the role of guild membership in Basel, Switzerland. Mind you, that never actually gets used for anything, but there is this explanation.

Frankly, it seemed that the authors would find something interesting in their research and then would go out of their way to weave it in.

The main plot revolves around a group of people moving across the countryside getting chased by bad guys. And then they get to safety. And then they leave the safety and get chased by bad guys again. It gets quite tiresome.

On the positive side, I feel like I learned something by reading this book, because I have a better feel for the intricacies of the relationship of the Holy Roman Empire (aka Austria/Hungary) with its immediate neighbors.

The writing is crisp and clear. The prose is not overly busy and most of the main characters in the book were interesting.

I just wish that I hadn't had to have my head spin as much as it did when I tried to follow the plot.

[BJ Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this series when it first came out, but somewhere along the way, I didn't finish. So this year I have been, off and on, going through and rereading the ones I have already read so that I can pick it back up. The key idea is brilliant: transplanting a modern West Virginia town right into the middle of the Thirty-Years War. Even more brilliant is the idea of open-sourcing the entire world. Eric Flint is the primary author and the key books are usually his with some co-author. However, there are literally hundreds of stories created by fans and other professional authors (currently over 100 volumes of collected stories), and many of these stories are then weaved into the primary narrative.

The Bavarian Crisis is one of the "primary" books and follows the events in Bavaria. The misadventures of Veronica Dreeson and Mary Simpson are so ridiculous as to take away from the overall book. Fortunately, the authors seemed to realize this and had multiple characters in the book commenting on how incredibly unlikely their experiences are. (I can't say more without spoilers) Other than that, this book is OK. It advances the plot and keeps one interested, but I definitely would not recommend reading it first. You definitely need to read 1632, 1633, and the Baltic War first. You could probably get away with reading this before the Galileo Affair, and the Ram Rebellion, and any of the prior published Grantville Gazzette or Ring of Fire Anthologies.

[Leo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really tried to give this book a chance and although it improved after the first 200 pages, it never lived up to expectations. This is a book in the Ring of Fire series. The premise is that a small West Virginia town inexplicably gets transported back to 17th century century Germany in the midst of the 30 years war. Taken as a whole this book does one thing quite well, it gives a great sense of what living in the new reality brought on by the phenomenon was like. The problem is that the same effect could have been achieved in a much shorter book. There were three things that bothered me about the book.

1. There is very little action (personal preference here perhaps) and a lot of people just sitting around talking. This slowed the pace down considerably. Also, most of the characters speak as if they are reciting encyclopedic articles.

2. I've read books before that have many characters and I was prepared for it in this one, especially when I saw the extensive list of characters in the appendix. However, I still got tripped up. Many of the characters have similar names and some are difficult to find in the appendix. For example there was a Don Francisco and another character (characters?) talking about Don Fernando, which made for a very confusing scene. When I looked up the names, I discovered that Don Francisco's surname was Nasi AND that the third character I thought was in the room (Nasi) was actually the same person as Don Francisco. The scene would have been much easier to follow had the character been referred to solely as Nasi.

3. The most annoying thing about it (and it developed into a pet peeve by the end) was the dialog tags. They were put, he said, into the middle of sentences. That not only introduces a pause where normal people do not pause (unless your James T Kirk) it kicks you as the reader out of the narrative. Please, please, please put the dialog tags in a more unobtrusive spot.

[Caleb · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is something about this particular entry in the series that really grabbed me. I mean, this series is a giant mess to try to read given the spiderweb nature of continuity among the various books. This one though, was just a really good experience, and I'm going to attribute it to a strong cast.

Now, this may sound weird given the insanely huge and ever growing cast of characters in this series (seriously, I lose track sometimes because of all the new introductions in each book). I suppose a better way to describe it would be to say that the selection of characters taken from that large cast for this particular entry is rather strong. Veronica Dreeson is always amusing to read and pairing her with Mary Simpson, and a certain Archduchess later on, really made for one great plot thread in the book. Same with Marc and Susanna.

The story does meander around various locals and through some distractions at times, but in the end it all works to make for an amusing adventure paired with some adorable romance and some moments that are so good I wish I could spoil them in greater detail in order to gush here.

That said, I'll say that this is definitely one of the stronger books in the series. The character development is especially strong, giving time to Mary Simpson in particular so that she isn't just the wife of the Admiral and part-time socialite anymore. The same goes for some new characters that I dearly hope we'll see more of in the future.

So yeah, I suppose this isn't a review that is going to convince anyone to read the series, but maybe it will give some doubters hope that things don't get boring a few books in either. Like any series this big, there are going to be ups and downs. This is definitely an up though, and an entry to look forward to.

[Debrac2014 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I quite enjoyed it! Slow beginning, but then the multiple story lines moved quickly!

[Ramsey Meadows · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need better maps of this series. They traveled so much in this book and I had no idea where they were.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

From Publishers Weekly

The intricacies of Habsburg family relations make surprisingly fascinating reading in the latest episode in Flint's saga of a 20th-century West Virginia town transported mysteriously to 17th-century Europe. The recently widowed Duke Maximilian of Bavaria reluctantly assents to a dynastic marriage with his niece, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, but her recent reading of an uptime encyclopedia and the American Constitution leads her to consider other, previously unimaginable options. Meanwhile, Don Fernando, the Spanish Cardinal-Infante, moves toward peace with the fledgling United States of Europe while laying siege to Amsterdam and searching for a suitable bride. Flint teams up once again with historian DeMarce (_1634: The Ram Rebellion_) to tell a complicated but coherent story. It is especially refreshing to read an alternate history that doesn't depend upon the clash of anachronistic arms, but rather on how modern ideas of human rights, education, sanitation and law might have affected the Europe of the 30 Years War. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Product Description

The Thirty Years War continues to ravage 17th century Europe, but a new force is gathering power and influence: the Confederated Principalities of Europe, an alliance between Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, and the West Virginians from the 20th century led by Mike Stearns who were hurled centuries into the past by a mysterious cosmic accident.

The CPE has the know-how of 20th century technology, but needs iron and steel to make the machines. The iron mines of the upper Palatinate were rendered inoperable by wartime damage, and American know-how is needed on the spot to pump them out and get the metal flowing again—a mission that will prove more complicated than anyone expects. In the maelstrom that is Europe, even a 20th century copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica can precipitate a crisis, when readers learn of the 1640 Portuguese revolt, a crisis that will involve Naples as well. Another factor: Albanian exiles in Naples, inspired by the Americans, are plotting to recover lost Albanian turf, which will precipitate yet another crisis in the Balkans.

This troubled century was full of revolutions and plans for more revolutions before the Americans arrived, and gave every would-be revolutionary an example of a revolution that succeeded. Europe is a pot coming to a boil, and Mike Stearns will have his hands full seeing that it doesn't boil over on to Grantville and the CPE.

[Amyiw · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is told almost completely to us, not dialog, not action, 'the duke was... while... regime was gathering forces in the north...' type of telling and it is painful. Now most of the first three had a lot of set up, but there were great plot lines and interaction between the character. This did not have that, in fact, the interaction we did get was with a minor character who helps a new character and another downtimer that is new to Grantville. I'm not even going to try to remember any of the newer names, if I do, it is lucky as there are so many that there is an index several pages long just for the characters that had very little interest to me.

So to show what the main character plot lines and how little happens, I'll put it in the spoiler. The rest was new politics and agreements that read like a history book, of historical points that no longer happened and the ones that replace them.

Anna Marie the Archduchess was to marry her uncle, Duke Maximilian but realized that he had very little to no interest in the wedding other than furthering his politics and religion. They are Catholic (very and this is boring to me also) she becomes slightly less dogmatic through Mary Simpson and Veronica Dreeson Reicter of Grantville, who are on the run with her. Mary and Veronica get attacked while walking in the town where Veronica is trying to finalize her late husbands holdings. Some people have taken possession and want to keep possession, this resolves on its own as ... they are "saved" but not because their saviors puts them in shipping barrels and they end up at the feet of Maximilian and Anna Maria when they are parading welcome to Anna Maria. They then traipse through Germany until finally to 'friendly' allies. They then get a message to Grantville crew, a plane is sent to pick them up and Anna Maria is betrothed to a Spanish(?) Duke, Duke Ferdinand. Which seems like a better fit by far. Also Catholic.
Anna Maria's seamstress escapes but ends up separated. She encounters Mark, who is the son of a Downtime Grantviller that knows about Iron and Iron mines. While he is working and gathering information, he is separated from his father. He wants to leave so offers to go with her. This is the side story, or 2ndary character story. They travel being pursued by armies that would like to conscript them (she is traveling as a boy) and/or question her as one of the possible servants that might know where Anna Marie is. There are a few encounters but they end up safe and send a message home. Mark is smitten with her though they are different religions and she as a Catholic wont live in a Calvinist city (he is a Calvinist). They have a kiss and he considers living in an open Catholic city where other religions are accepted. They will write.
And there is a very short 3rd story of the niece in-law of Veronica that turns up on Veronica's doorstep before the abduction into barrels. The niece is pregnant and Veronica sends her and her boyfriend to Grantville as they can marry as Catholic and Protestant. They end up at Annalise's steps in Grantville when no one knows what happened to Veronica yet but Annalise accepts her even with the bad father that killed her father. OK that is pretty much it for character stories. Three paragraphs, all the rest is politics and history lessons. The stories become better in the end, maybe 1/3 and much more part of the book but still doesn't merit more that a 1/2 star and no bump for 700 pages of drag.

I realized after reading 2/3s of this book, that it is not one of the main line books. There are so many secondary books co-written with other authors or outright just written by a different author than Eric Flint. These are not the main books and for certain, I will not pick another co-written or written by Virginia DeMarche. I believe she is a historian like Eric but she writes even more like a historian and teacher. I felt like I was being taught the history and the politics of the book rather than read about how the town's people from Grantville were integrating and thriving or surviving. I get that to survive, they had to forge out a nation but the first book showed how the people came to accept new people and put their skills to use in the new world. This did none of that, NONE. The Iron finding was by downtimers even though we get how the Iron is going to used. There was none of that magic, that was even in the 2nd and 3rd books, 1633 & 1634 The Baltic War, which together were about as good as the first. The 2nd left too many plots hanging but they were finished nicely in the 3rd. This had NONE of that magic.

---------my slog through updates----------

update--
I'm 174 pages in (21%) and this has very very little of Grantville, two times it asides to Mike sterns and he decides something in a matter of a phrase or two and then it goes back to politics, lots and lots of politics. The Grandmother of Gretchen is the only other Grantville resident that we have seen though the admirals wife is talked about, since both of these characters have left Grantville on mission/travel, it seems their books though they have received very little time. Veronica Dreeson Reicter is supposedly going to settle her first husbands estate. That is pretty much it in 174 pages. I have read pretty good stories that are complete in less time.

To be fair these books usually are top heavy (beginning) for set up but I just don't see these two ladies becoming much interest.

267 pages- This reads like a history book and the characters are mostly not Grantville cast, a few sentences from Mike Sterns and a side story of Mary Simpson and Gretchen's grandmother who is now married to the mayor of Grantville, Veronica Dreeson Reicter. This is maybe 20 pages of the story. The rest is all of Dukes and other royalty or church leaders and positions and marriage, a big story of the marriage from one Duke to his niece that would unite a territory. The niece very young and is realizing that her betrothed has no interest in the marriage other than the power it brings, or at least we are. This is another maybe 20 pages or the 267 at 40% in. All the rest is political and history and really does read like a history book with 100s of characters, no kidding and you don't know which ones might play a part in the ending here. I would really not finish this except that I am thinking the end will bring something? Some reviewers have said the second half is where things happen. So far it is NOT. For this 40% I give it 1 star and would give it a big zero. Big push just to move on.

[Mike Briggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the books in this series are hard to get into, and that is both because of the massive cast of thousands over many different countries (not all of which are familiar), and because the books themselves are not written by the same authors. Other than the short story books, none of the stories (books) can be definitely linked to any sole author other than Eric Flint. The hope every time I crack open a book in this series, is that Flint actually was involved, and that the book has a similar enough "feel" to the prior works. That is very hard to do when you have many different co-authors, and many different characters. Really doesn't help if the book opens up before prior books. And then you notice that they are referring to events that might happen that have already occurred in previous books (this is a 1634 book, there already is a 1635 book).

With all that said, this specific book in the series finally picked up after many unknown number of pages and actually became rather enjoyable. Hard to put down even. Even so, I did end up reading another book at the very beginning as the early stages of this book were frustrating to get through.

[Howard Brazee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend reading this (1632) series in recommended order (Google it).

This book seemed at first to be almost a historical lecture - which I liked, the history is fascinating. Then the action got complicated. Very little of the book took place in Grantville, nor even needed Grantville to make it work.

It was heavy into religious issues of the time and place, along with political issues. It did mention Unitarianism for a moment, but I'm interested that I don't recall so far in the series - ever seeing atheism mentioned. Certainly Grantville would have had some atheists and agnostics.

I like that it did not make modern values dominate. It is easy to say that Grantville is us, therefore it must have the best values and will win all of the culture wars. But that didn't happen in this volume.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had trouble with this book's rating - I liked the characters and the plot, but I really was not a fan of the writing style. Given my enjoyment of the previous books in this series, I'm left to conclude that Eric Flint was in charge of the overall story, while Virginia DeMarce got to handle the pacing and dialogue. The result is a fun story that takes forever to get going, and then suddenly skips over large periods of time. I don't really mind the Skyrim-style map hopping that occurs when nothing of interest happens, but it needs to be consistent. It's jarring to spend an entire chapter on the road between two towns, and then suddenly the characters are halfway across Germany.

And the dialogue. Oh, man, the dialogue! It's usually not too bad, but at one point or another, every single character starts talking in short sentences. Nobody talks like this. It's not natural. It's really not. One or two new characters might be okay. But not everyone. Especially not well-established characters who already have defined speech patterns.

Given that I gave up on "The Rudolstadt Colloquy" in the first Grantville Gazette, I'm thinking I just don't like DeMarce's writing style. Which certainly doesn't bode well for the other books she's co-authored in this series, but... we'll see.

Also, it's worth noting for those who might have gotten lost/confused by the various story lines and characters - I'd strongly recommend looking up the suggesting reading order for books in the 1632 world. There's a lot more than just the "year" books, and they really give some background to the world and flesh out characters in earlier adventures so the "year" stories don't have to.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked "1634; The Bavarian Crisis" a bit better than I liked 1634 The Baltic War. Both novels are about 100 to 150 pages longer than they should be. But what makes this volume work better is that it has a pretty clear focus on what it is trying to do. It does a lot but doesn't try to do too much (thought it is JUST on the border of being overstuffed). As with previous volumes, it is fun, action-packed and thought provoking.

At this point in the Ring of Fire series, we really are beginning to see how historical figures are interact with their original histories and are reacting to these new possible futures. One of the more fascinating ideas in the whole series is the question of how people would act differently if they knew their futures. Some historical characters see those other futures as destiny and act in accordance with them. While others see them as warnings of what not to do and try to forge something different. Characters like Duke Maximilian represent the former, while Anna of Austria and Don Fernando in the Netherlands are the other.

I liked many of the characters in "The Bavarian Crisis" and, as with previous volumes, one gets a lot of insights into the nuances and complexities of the politics and culture of Central Europe. I have not moved much further into the series but I suspect that this volume was meant to be a transitional book that wraps up some previous plot lines (for example, the Spanish Netherlands).

[Child960801 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the premise of this series: that historical events did not happen in isolation and that history is actually made up of the stories of everyone. The big event introduced in the first book of the series was an American town from the year 2000 being transported back to Germany during the 30 year war in the 1630s. The series continues to explore how that event changed everything. In this book, it's looking at Bavaria in 1634. So, I understand all of that and I get what the authors are doing, but I find that these books can be really hard to get into and take a bit to read. I've read several of the books in the series and most of the ones from 1634, but they take place in other places with other characters. In each book, you have to get familiar with a mostly new set of characters in mostly new locations. And everything and everyone have very similar sounding names. And political borders and countries are very different than they are currently. I enjoy these books, but it feels like a bit of a slog to read them, especially at the beginning. Once you kind of know who is who and where you are, it gets a little bit easier.

A duchess dies and her husband is pressured to remarry. The war efforts in Grantville need more raw materials, especially iron. A young woman prepares to accept her duty. A widow tries to recover her husband's property.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I suspect that '1634: The Bavarian Crisis' marks the spot at which the 1632 series begins to disappear up its own backside.

The first third of the novel is all setup, getting deep into the weeds of 17th Century German politics and religious doctrine. The second third is actually pretty exciting, with plenty of intrigue and a daring escape. The final third drags on, as the escapees flee their pursuers across rural Germany.

The problem is that I never really understood why any of this was particularly important. How did these events move the greater story of the series along? Yes, I get that various players moved around the map and that certain alliances were disrupted or concluded, but what was it about this novel that demanded a 24:13 runtime in audio format?

I've been enjoying this series up to now, listening to a volume every six months or so. I hope 'The Bavarian Crisis' is an anomaly. I suppose I'll find out this spring.

[Marsha Valance · Rating 4 out of 5]

20th century concepts of human rights, education, sanitation and law, as spread by the transported West Virginia town of Grantville, impact the 17th century Hapsburgs hard. When the recently widowed Duke Maximilian of Bavaria offers a dynastic marriage to his niece, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, her recent reading of an uptime encyclopedia and the American Constitution leads her to consider other possibilities. Meanwhile, Don Fernando, the Spanish Cardinal-Infante, has seized control of the Netherlands, moving toward peace with the fledgling United States of Europe while laying siege to Amsterdam and searching for a suitable bride.

[Daniel Bratell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world created by the 1632 book keeps expanding in time and space. With the ambition this project has I think it was inevitable, but maybe it also becomes less entertaining.

A firm interest in European history is a good base though nobody will be prepared for everything in this universe.

This book is a lot about the collision of catholicism and protestantism, illustrated by the conflicts surrounding Bavaria, though happening all the way between Amsterdam and Vienna, with a sprinkle of Basel.

It's interesting but the time line moves very slowly.

[Aamundson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that the book took a while to get going, and then resolved most of the tension a little too early. The middle half (~page 200 through 550) was quite entertaining though. It honestly almost feels like two different books smashed together. There are several plotlines to which significant coverage is devoted in the early section of the book that simply seem to vanish (thankfully) once the real action starts.

Overall I will give it three stars. If I had just read the pages listed above I would have been a little confused at the start, but would otherwise have given it 4.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very ambitious plotline with a lot of interwoven stories, so I am glad I had a physical copy of this book. The maps, genealogical charts and the list of characters came in quite handy. It would have been nice to have an additional family tree of the various Hapsburgs, but that was nothing a quick internet search couldn't fix.

I am still intrigued by this whole series and look forward to the rest.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Bavarian Crisis focus's on the Politics of the House of Habsburg and the effects of the Ring of Fire has had on that family in the 1632 Verse. New characters are introduced along with the continuing stories of all the characters both uptime and downtime. If you have not started this series I highly recommend getting started with the first book 1632. Otherwise keep reading, all of the books have been very enjoyable and I always learn a little more about this historical period.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good addition to the series.

If you aren't a history nut -- there's a lot of detail you can skim past -- but the info dumps are on such varied legal, logistical & ethical issue from back then -- you find something that catches your interest (or indignation) and you WILL appreciate being given the information.

Still can't believe that deserter showed up again, didn't die & had the presumption to call himself not cruel on purpose. >< Very "I was following orders" and then some.

[Dianna Shimizu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've really liked this series up until now. The first book was especially exciting with a West Virginia town being transplanted to 17th century Germany and how they adapted. But this book in the series was more like reading a history book with an endless and confusing cast of characters from history, when the reader really wanted to find out about the people in Grantville, so I was disappointed. I hope the rest of the books in the series are not like this one, and more like the first one.

[Edward Tessier · Rating 3 out of 5]

At times it is a nearly endless compendium of historic characters, economies, and religious politics. the "cast of thousands" consistently distracts from the dozen or so characters engaging enough to follow. I can't imagine the series changing at this point, but I so wish it would pare down on the world building and spend more time experiencing the era through a handful of compelling characters. Those characters ARE there, they are just buried deep under a Bavarian avalanche of words.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's like someone took a genealogy page and tried to write a story based on it. So much of the action happens "off screen", with so many 2d characters, and so many references to the seminal novel in the series and Grantville (where there's lots of novelty and action), that it's just not enjoyable to read.

[Mike Hanford · Rating 1 out of 5]

How did his boring and second-rate screed insert itself into this interesting series?

Did someone need money to pay the rent? Was the real manuscript lost, and a replacement commissioned by someone unfamiliar with the series, who only had seen one of the book covers, and typically wrote for Accounting publications?

Jailed extremely dangerous crminals could be given free copies to calm them, or to punish them.

OMG.... save yourself the suffering, and read something else!

[John Gornall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Geography of the story

I found parts of this story very interesting , but using the names of what was a different society made it very hard to place the Geography. I suggest that you utilise maps at each of the different parts of the storyline to provide clarity and interest. When I couldn't understand the storyline I tended to skip onwards.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

my first review was going to be harsh, then I got on Good Reads and found out that this introduction of so many new characters and the disassociation from the earlier books was my fault, I thought this was the third book of the series when it was actually the 6th, I will say that this was a good read, a bit confusing and then I will go back and read the books I missed. oops

[Jack Doud · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bureaucracy the novel.
This seems to want to be a comedy of errors but there's so much specific detail about people and places that it's impossible to keep track of who's doing what where. A map would have been very helpful. When I stopped trying to keep track of everyone and just went with the flow it worked out fairly well but this feels like it could have been trimmed in the edit.

[Robert Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously read prior to 2010, no private note.

[Lora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this series